The futures were all trading lower on Wednesday, after investors watched a solid start to the trading day Tuesday turn into a big afternoon reversal wherein all the major indexes and the transportation index ended lower. Pundits cited everything from the potential for AT&T to cut its sacrosanct dividend to Bitcoin pressure as the reason for the big rollover. Despite some very strong results from retailers, the sellers took the upper hand in the final hours of trading and never looked back.
Despite the concerns across Wall Street for tapering of the quantitative easing program and clear building inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained, which could be one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. Note that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.
With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the balance of the second quarter and the rest of 2021.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Axon Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ: AXON): Raymond James raised the stock to Strong Buy from Outperform and has a $150 price target. The consensus target is higher at $179.57, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday at $123.43.
Baozun Inc. (NASDAQ: BZUN): Credit Suisse raised its rating to Outperform from Neutral and has a $41 price target. The consensus price objective is $48.20, and the stock closed Tuesday at $34.47.
Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX): Raymond James upgraded the shares to Strong Buy from Outperform and also raised the price target to $120. That is much higher than the $89.36 consensus. The final Tuesday trade came in at $73.45.
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Ferrari N.V. (NYSE: RACE | RACE Price Prediction): Redburn downgraded the venerable luxury car and racing giant to Neutral from Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $157.82 to $233.66 and have a $231.99 consensus price target. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $203.58.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): Tudor Pickering started the legacy automaker with a Buy rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is lower at $13.19, and the shares closed Tuesday at $12.14.
IQIYI Inc. (NYSE: IQ): Though CLSA raised its Underperform rating to Outperform, it also lowered the price target to $16. The consensus price objective is up at $24.17, and the shares ended Tuesday’s trading session at $13.95.
Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO): Pivotal Research Group raised the $57 price target to $65. The lower consensus target is $54.75, and Tuesday’s closing price of $54.72 followed a retreat of over 5% for the day.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Jefferies resumed coverage of the streaming entertainment giant with a Buy rating and a $620 price target. The consensus is $614.67, and the stock closed Tuesday at $486.28.
Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN): Telsey Advisory raised its $38 price target on the luxury retailer to $44 but kept a Market Perform rating on the shares. The consensus target is $35.35, and the stock closed Tuesday at $41.98 per share.
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Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $105 price target. The consensus target is higher at $120. The stock was last seen trading on Tuesday at $76.97, after a gain of almost 5% on the day. Shares retreated close to 4% in the premarket.
Qualtrics International Inc. (NASDAQ: XM): The BofA Securities upgraded to Buy from Neutral included a price target hike to $45. The consensus target is $47.38, and Tuesday’s final print was at $32.28.
QuickLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QUIK): Roth Capital not only upgraded it to Buy from Neutral but also raised the target price to $8. The posted consensus target is $7, and the shares closed Tuesday at $6.14.
Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Northcoast raised its Neutral rating on the popular discount retailer to Buy and has a $147 price target. The consensus target is just $133.89, and Tuesday’s last trade was at $124.81.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Morgan Stanley raised the software giant from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $270 price target. The consensus price objective is $273.63, and Tuesday’s closing share price was $214.33.
Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SBH): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst said that, with mask guidelines relaxed, Americans are about to get much more serious about their appearance. Shares closed most recently at $22.49 and have a consensus price target of $25.40.
E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP): Huber Research upgraded it to Overweight from Underweight. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $7.39 to $24.78 and has a $25 consensus price objective. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $20.63.
UBS Group A.G. (NYSE: UBS): Deutsche Bank raised the Swiss investment giant to Buy from Hold. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $9.75 to $16.31. Its consensus price target is $17.91, and the shares were last seen on Tuesday at $15.53 a share.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $150 price target. The consensus target for the venerable retail leader is up at $161.85, and Tuesday’s closing print was at $141.91.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): UBS downgraded the money center giant to Neutral from Buy, but it also raised the price target to $47. The consensus target is $47.95, and the last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $46.86. As it is trading just below the 52-week high after a solid run, this looks like a valuation call.
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24/7 Wall St. screened the BofA Securities research universe looking for Buy-rated stocks in the so-called defensive growth sectors, such as consumer staples and big pharmaceuticals, and found five stocks that look like solid ideas for growth investors who also like a dividend kicker.
Also, see why one top analyst is growing increasingly bullish on a leading cybersecurity firm.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included CrowdStrike, Gap, Marathon Petroleum, Mastercard, MGM Resorts, Palo Alto Networks, Snowflake and Visa. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on BioNTech, Exelixis, Foot Locker and more.
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